Neometals Ltd (ASX:NMT) and its joint venture partners have increased the total contained lithium resources at the Mt Marion Lithium Project by 160% to 60 million tonnes at 1.36% Li2O and 1.09% iron.
The operator of the project Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) has a 30% stake, Ganfeng Lithium Co a 43% stake and Neometals a 27% holding in the project.
Ganfeng is China’s largest lithium producer.
The 0.3% cut-off grade reflects the strategy of mining to the lithium-bearing pegmatite contacts.
A total of 852 drill holes have been drilled as at 17 June 2016, totalling about 67,185 metres in length. The majority of the drilling is RC drilling which comprises some 97% of the drilled metres, with the remainder drilled using diamond core drilling.
Initial drilling at Mt Marion in the early 1970s was by Western Mining Corporation was completed by Reed Resources Ltd (now Neometals), Reed Industrial Minerals Ltd (RIM) and MRL since 2009.
Off take
In June, it was reported that initial offtake partner Ganfeng had agreed to further expand the scope of the offtake arrangements for lithium spodumene concentrate grading 4-6% Li2O from 80,000 tonnes per annum to 200,000 tonnes per annum of spodumene concentrate.
This is in addition to the existing Offtake Agreement for 200,000 tonnes per annum of +6% Li2O.
Neometals is leveraged to both production and resource growth of the Mt Marion asset. Today's increase in resource will assist the cause.
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